1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to test specification formation supporting apparatus, method, and program for forming a test specification of software designed by an object orientation by using a test factor classification table and to its recording medium. More particularly, the invention relates to test specification formation supporting apparatus, method, and program for automatically forming a template of a test factor classification table by using class design information and to its recording medium.
2. Description of the Related Arts
Hitherto, it is known that in order to form software of high quality, it is necessary that a test specification including all necessary test items is formed, tests are executed in accordance with the test specification, and results are confirmed. However, the operation to form the test specification including all the test items is extremely difficult and the number of necessary steps is also large. In many cases, therefore, a sufficient number of test items are not found or executed. To solve such a problem, there is a method whereby inputs of programs to be tested are listed and the operations of the programs corresponding to combinations of input data are expressed in a form of a test factor classification table. If information of the test factor classification table is used, an application such that a combination of arguments to be tested is mechanically formed and used as a test specification and, further, an application such that the tests are automatically executed are considered. An apparatus which realizes such a method has already been known.
However, manual operations are still necessary in order to form the test factor classification table, and a problem such as dropout of test items due to omission of writing into the test factor classification table, or the like cannot be fundamentally solved. Although there is also an idea that source codes themselves of the program are analyzed and test factors and conditions are extracted, since the conditions introduced for the sake of convenience of the program, or the like are also extracted, it is necessary that confirmation is made by the human being. Further, also in case of considering a combination of the extracted test factors, there is a problem such that if the combinations are mechanically formed, the number of combinations increases. It is indispensable to form the combinations by the manual operation. At this time, a difference of whether the conditions of the test factors to be combined relate to the normal operation of the program or the abnormal operation exercises a large influence when considering the combinations of the test factors. For example, the conditions regarding the abnormal operation of the program are usually solely tested, and even if the tests in which a number of such conditions are combined are executed, in many cases, they are meaningless. In the conventional test specification forming apparatus, however, nothing is considered with regard to a type of whether the operation is the normal operation or the abnormal operation, and it becomes a cause of a wasteful increase in number of combinations. According to software development based on the object orientation, there is a case of using a unit called a component obtained by collecting a group of classes for providing a certain function. In this case, it is requested that the test specification is also formed for the function which is provided for an external unit by the component. Since this corresponds to a method in which a specific class in the component is opened to the external unit, at present, the human being searches the method, resulting in an increase in number of steps of forming the test specification.